Fighting Fantasy Series - France
Défis fantastiques ("Fantastic Challenges") was the name given in to the Fighting Fantasy series. They were published by Folio Junior, (an imprint of Gallimard), as part of the series Un livre dont vous êtes le héros ("A Book of which You are the Hero"). Popularity France is cited as one of the three best-selling markets for Fighting Fantasy (the other two being the UK and Japan). France is also the only country where the series has never been out of print.25th Anniversary Edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, page 223 Books Translated All the original Fighting Fantasy numbered gamebooks were translated into French, although released in a different order from the UK editions. For many years, Curse of the Mummy was the only one that was unavailable in French, but Gallimard finally published it in April 2015. All the six new books from the Wizard Books series, as the first new book from the Scholastic series, were also translated. The different editions Gallimard published continuously the series Défis Fantastiques from 1983 until today. Regularly, the cover design and the isbn of the books changed. In order to distinguish these modifications, the fan communities agreed to refers to these different versions as "première édition", "deuxième édition", and so on. In 2018, five different editions of the books were edited by Gallimard.Planète LDVELH webpage about the Gallimard different editionsLa Taverne des Aventuriers topic about the Defis Fantastiques different editions First edition (from January 1985 to April 1996) This edition is remarkable by its sober cover design. A first small band at the upside of the cover indicated the name of the series Un Livre dont VOUS êtes le Héros. A second band give the author(s) name. From April 1985, the name of the sub-series and a logo were added at the bottom of the cover in order to distinguish the different other sub-series published in the series (like or Cretan Chronicles). The logo for Défis Fantastiques depicts a sword and a shield, and was designed by Jame's PrunierLa Taverne des Aventuriers topic about the various logos of subseriesLa Taverne des Aventuriers topic about Jame's Prunier. The first 56 books of the series were published in the first edition. Second edition (from October 1996 to July 2005) The second edition is always a part of the Folio Junior imprints, and follow the numbering started by the first edition. This edition shows a bigger mention of the collection name, appearing in relief and metallic letters on the cover. It completes the series with the translation of the two last titles of the Puffin series, with the exception of Curse of the Mummy. From September 2004, the books covers show the Wizard Books Fighting Fantasy logo, and some cover illustrations were replaced by the new illustrations from the Wizard series 1. Third edition (from May 2006 to June 2012) The third edition marks the bigger break in the publication of the series in France. The collection is no longer part of the Folio Junior imprint, and a new numbering is used. The dimensions of the books are different, and the cover design uses a big golden frame. As for the last prints of the 2nd edition, the cover depict the Wizard logo. This edition gets only one new books - the translation of ''Eye of the Dragon''. Fourth edition (from June 2012 to May 2017) The fourth edition changes the cover design, with a bigger mention of the series. Both the French and Puffin logo were used, in a simplified version. Original books (including Curse of the Mummy and new books of the Wizard series) were published in a different and bigger format, called “Grand Format”. It use the same numbering started with the third edition. The fourth edition marks the beginning of partnership with Scriptarium (publisher of the French version of Advanced Fighting Fantasy role-playing game), who provides proof-reading, and translation homogenization of specific words. Fifth edition (from April 2018) The fifth edition uses the same numbering of the third and fourth editions. It first used the new cover and interior illustrations from the Scholastic series, then used new art for cover and came back to original arts for interior. It includes new books translations. The partnership with Scriptarium is more important, and additional content was added. First, an encyclopedic section, called "Les Archives d'Allansia" ("the Allansia Files"), was added at the end of the books, and includes informations about characters, locations and encounters of the book. Second, original pre-generated characters were added to the republished books. Announcement of the 2018 French edition on the Official Fighting Fantasy blog Publication History Original Series New Series Wizard Scholastic ''Sorcery! The ''Sorcery! series was also published under the name Sorcellerie !. The series was published in the first, the second, and the fourth edition. [http://www.la-taverne-des-aventuriers.com/t5756-les-differentes-versions-des-sorcellerie La Taverne des Aventuriers topic about the Sorcellerie ! different editions] First edition The series use a logo depicting a hand with dice inside its palm. This illustration is a reusing of the cover illustration of the Sorcery! Boxset by John Blanche. Second edition The series was republished inside the second edition, first using new cover illustrations by Franck Stephan for volume 1 and 3, second using the new cover illustrations of the Wizard series, but without the Wizard logo. Contrary of the Wizard and Scholastic series, Gallimard never included Sorcery! inside the Fighting Fantasy main series. Fourth edition The Sorcery! books were republished in "grand format" version in the fourth edition. This version included proof reading from Scriptarium, and use the interior arts of the Sorcery Spell Book. Publication History Clash of the Princes The two books of ''Clash of the Princes'' series were published inside the Double Jeu subseries of Gallimard. This subseries included both the translations of Double Game series (Magnet Books) and Clash of the Princes series[http://planete-ldvelh.com/page/lothar.html Planète LDVELH webpage about Lothar le Sorcier][http://planete-ldvelh.com/page/clovis.html Planète LDVELH webpage about Clovis le Chevalier]. The books gets original cover by Jame’s Prunier. Publication History ''The Tasks of Tantalon'' The Tasks of Tantalon was translated into French first in the second issue of Piranha, a magazine edited by Gallimard. It was later released as a hardback book under the title Les Douze Secrets du Sorcier (Twelve Secrets of the Sorcerer).[http://planete-ldvelh.com/page/piege-piranha.html Planète LDVELH webpage about Piranha] Mini-FF Two of the Mini-FF adventures were also translated in the magazine Piranha: #''The Temple of Testing, translated with the title ''Le Temple de l'Épreuve, was published in issue 4.[http://planete-ldvelh.com/page/piranha4.html Planète LDVELH webpage about Le Temple de l'Épreuve] #''The Dervish Stone, translated with the title ''La Pierre de Shanhara, was published in issue 7.[http://planete-ldvelh.com/page/piranha7.html Planète LDVELH webpage about La Pierre de Shanhara] Advanced Fighting Fantasy The first publishing of a multiplayer role playing game in French language was done in 2013 by Scriptarium, with the translation of the second edition of Advanced Fighting Fantasy, under the title Défis Fantastiques – le Jeu de Rôle. The products in French include both translation of English content, and original content created by Scriptarium. Publication History Artwork For the most part, the French editions feature the same artwork as the original British editions. Some variations do exist. For example, the first title has been released in four editions: 1) Peter Andrew Jones' original painting; 2) Peter Andrew Jones' original painting covered in gold, being a special edition; 3) Peter Andrew Jones' second painting, 4) the Time-Life version with an entirely different piece not seen in English releases but still credited to Jones. Some later titles were also reprinted with variations to their cover layouts, some with completely new artwork by French artists.Demian's Gamebook Webpage The French editions also kept the interior art, but in many cases, some of the illustrations were left aside, presumably to make the books cheaper to print. The worst offender in that category is Revenge of the Vampire, which lost 26 out of its 30 original illustrations. Almost all the maps which were printed on the inside front cover of the original books were also left out of the French editions. See Also *Fighting Fantasy Series - Japan *Fighting Fantasy Series - USA External Links *The Défis fantastiques article on French Wikipedia. *The Défis fantastiques article on Demian's Gamebook Webpage. *The Sorcellerie ! article on French Wikipedia. References Category:Non-UK Fighting Fantasy Series